HEARTS head coach Graham Rix praised his side for grinding out a dramatic 3-2 win at Livingston in the Bank of Scotland Premier League.

The Jambos took the lead after a shaky start through Bruno Aguiar, were pegged back twice in a thrilling second period, then got a late clincher through Roman Bednar. Rix said: "I take my hat off to my lads for keeping going. Livingston are fighting for their lives and John Robertson has them fired up. But I think overall we deserved the three points.

"We were probably the more composed side. It wasn't a free-flowing performance but we dug in and matched them." Richard Brittain levelled with a free-kick from the flank which evaded everyone and after Edgar Jankauskas had restored Hearts' lead, Dave MacKay equalised with a 20-yard volley.

Rangers, Hibernian and Kilmarnock had all won the day before as they chase Hearts for the second Champions League spot. Celtic boss Gordon Strachan insisted his players were right to stick by their game plan after pressure eventually told and Aberdeen were swept aside 3-0.

Supporters began to air their frustrations after an hour without a Celtic breakthrough.

Then Stilian Petrov, Shaun Maloney and Polish striker Zurawski obliged and Strachan said: "There are 60,000 people at Parkhead, but my players have got the ability to be patient."

Rangers manager Alex McLeish has warned his players they must do better against Villarreal in Spain this week after making hard work of a 2-1 victory over Falkirk. "They can all play a bit better than that," said McLeish.